


Paper Hearts

by scullywolf



Series: TXF: Scenes in Between [83]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, MSR, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:31:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5108006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf





	Paper Hearts

_“This is Special Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI. Badge number JTT047101111. I need a removal order for a federal prisoner.”_

In retrospect, it was clear that she should have known better.

She had seen his face, the noncommittal nod and distant look that meant his thoughts were a million miles away, tumbling down a path whose direction he couldn’t control. She’d seen it but had let her own weariness fool her into thinking that all he needed was to take the rest of the day off, get some sleep, attack the problem with fresh eyes and a clear head, hopefully have a new perspective in the morning.

But she should have known better. This was, after all, Mulder.

She hung up the phone and sat back with a sigh, rubbing her forehead. It was either very lucky or very unlucky that she’d still been in the office at all; she should have gone home hours ago. On the one hand, if she hadn’t been there to receive the call from the clerk, who was following up on Mulder’s travel order, she wouldn’t have known her partner was anywhere other than asleep on his couch. On the other hand, she was about to have a very unpleasant conversation with their boss.

After rubbing her head for a minute more, she dug around in the desk drawer until she found some pain reliever, dry-swallowed two and stood with a quiet groan. If she was right about where Mulder was headed -- and she knew him well enough to be fairly certain that she was -- she had a long night ahead of her.


End file.
